Democrats

Across the country, as noted in a New York Times editorial this morning, Republicans spreading false claims about voter fraud are launching attacks on Americans’ voting rights. As a result of their efforts, more than two-thirds of states are considering or have passed photo identification laws that would make it more difficult for many Americans to cast a ballot – most directly effecting minorities and young people. It’s not surprising that minorities and young people predominantly vote for Democrats. In response, DNC Interim Chair Donna Brazile released the following statement:

For years, Republicans have knowingly trumpeted false claims about rampant voter fraud. They know these claims to be false. Indeed, every effort to demonstrate widespread fraud at the ballot box has failed to turn up evidence that such fraud exists. Yet Republicans persist in such claims for cynical and partisan reasons: assertions of voter fraud enable them to offer a plausible reason for passing legislation that does nothing more than disenfranchise the most vulnerable Americans, depriving them of their most basic right to choose their leaders.

Indeed, the photo identification laws that Republicans are pushing across the country are most likely to disenfranchise young Americans, poor Americans, and minorities – individuals who are least likely to have government identification or to be able to afford to get it. It’s obvious that Republicans are pursuing these laws not to protect against nearly nonexistent voter fraud, but instead to increase their own chances of victory on Election Day. Republican efforts to secure party victories at the expense of Americans’ basic democratic rights are unconscionable, and they should be condemned by right-thinking Americans of both parties.